I like the way the story is going Beth. It's very sad about Oscar though hopeful as well that maybe a little time away may help him come to terms with things.
I know it's going to be hard on everybody else though and I hope they cope with it well. Some possible good that may come out of a search for Oscar is that Cookie's memory could indirectly be triggered back. But I eagerly anticipate exactly how you bring it about.

Incidentally I'm slowly developing the plot for the Return of the Three Detectives and I hope to bring some other MC people into cameos that weren't included in the original, including Ed and his namesake The Count.

After seeing Cookie Monster and his mom in the Letter of the Day: B sketch again today, I'm hoping an update to this will come soon... Ish? Maybe we'll finally see how Cookie Monster's own actual family (mom and sister, and possibly grandmother too) react to his current amnesiac state.

Whew. Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse right? Oscar was definitely a changed Grouch. Hard to believe isn’t it? Now poor Maria was saddled with the task of telling the rest of us that Oscar was gone. After she took a few minutes to gain her composure she joined the rest of us at the party.

Chapter Seven:

Luis was the first to notice his wife finally coming back over to join the festivities.

“Did you talk to Oscar? Is he coming down?” asked Luis.

“Um, no I didn’t talk to Oscar,” said Maria.

“Did he tell you to scram? Maybe things are getting back to normal,” chuckled Bob.

“No he didn’t. Guys, we need to talk,” said Maria as she pulled all of the adults into a circle. “You too Kermit,” she added when she saw me looking over at them.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Oscar has left Sesame Street. Possibly for good,” said Maria and began to read us his note.

“Maybe he’s just playing a joke on us, trying to act the way he used to,” I suggested.

“No Kermit, he’s really gone,” said Maria.

“All right, we need to come up with a plan. Right now, we don’t want to panic anyone so let’s just keep this between us,” said Gordon.

It made sense, no need to get the kids all hyped up. Of course, nothing ever goes exactly to plan. We had just began to disperse from our circle agreeing to meet up at Hooper’s after the party to discuss things further when Big Bird shouted out asking where Oscar was.

“Oh Big Bird, Oscar never comes to parties, you know him,” said Alan trying to avoid the truth.

“Yeah, but Mr. Grouch has been different since he hurt furry blue monster. He hasn’t told Elmo to scram or beat it all week!” said Elmo.

“Actually, he hasn’t really talked to anyone lately,” noted Ernie.

“Hey you’re right Ern, I brought him some garbage yesterday and he didn’t even say it was yucky,” said Bert.

“Let’s go get Oscar and tell him it’s going to be ok, that Cookie is home and that’s all that matters!” exclaimed Herry Monster.

“Su-per Grover will go and get grouchy and bring him back here,” said Grover.

“I’ll make a pumpkin appear just for him and I’ll even see if I can make it a rotten one!” said Abby.

The adults nervously looked back and forth at each other as the situation was now getting out of hand. Soon everyone was talking at once. Since I was used to this type of thing happening with my friends from the theatre I realized it was up to me to take charge.

“QUIET!” I shrieked waving my hands in the air.

“And I said look Grouchy, just because I am cute and furry does not mean you have to be so mean to me all of the time,” said Grover in a style typical of one of my other friends.

“Grover? You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.

“Sorry froggy,” said Grover.

“Ok, here’s the thing, Oscar is,” I started to say but looking into those eager faces I realized I couldn’t find the right words to say.

“What Kermit is trying to say is that Oscar is, well, Bob why don’t you tell them where Oscar is,” said Gordon.

“Oscar is going through a tough time right now so he’s, um, he’s,” started Bob.

“Oscar ran away!” burst out Maria out of nowhere.

“What?” asked Ernie.

“Mr. Grouch ran away from home?” said Elmo.

“Poor Oscar, I had no idea he was so sad,” said Big Bird.

“One, one missing grouch,” said the Count a little sadly.

“What are we going to do?” asked Grover.

“Well, we’re going to talk about that, but we don’t want all of you to worry,” said Gordon.

“We’ve had to do this before,” said Bob.

“Yeah and they found me and brought me home just fine!” said Big Bird getting a few laughs.

Cookie Monster had remained quiet throughout this entire time.

“This Oscar fellow?” he said speaking for the first time since we learned Oscar was missing.

“Yes Cookie?” asked Susan.

“He is the one who ran into me right?” said Cookie Monster.

“Well, yes he is,” said Gordon.

“This is all my fault. I should be the one to leave, not him,” said Cookie.

“No! Cookie, it was an accident. It was not your fault, it was not his fault. We love you both very much, you need to stay here,” said Susan.

“Please don’t leave Cookie,” said Ernie.

“We want to help you get your memory back,” said Bert.

“You are all very kind. Thank you,” said Cookie Monster.

“Come on Cookie, let’s get you settled upstairs, you’ve had a long day,” said Susan.

“Ok. I guess I will see all of you later,” said Cookie sullenly as Susan led him over to 123 and up the stairs.

“All right everyone, let’s clean up and then you should all get home. I promise we’ll keep you up to date on Oscar but for now you have no reason to worry,” said Gordon.

Many groans and moans were heard at this statement but most everyone agreed and went on their way.

Now it was just myself along with Gordon, Bob, Luis, Alan, Maria, and Gina sitting around the counter of Hooper’s Store. Susan stayed with Cookie Monster so he would not be alone.

“Ok, well I guess the first question is do we know where he would go?” asked Gordon.

“That’s a good point, when we went looking for Big Bird, we at least had some clue as to where he was and where we would find him,” said Maria.

“Wasn’t he going to a family reunion the day of the accident?” asked Alan.

“Yes he was, he didn’t want that to get around though because it would look too much like he cared for his family and grouches don’t care. He told Gabi and me he had a reputation to uphold,” said Maria.

“Where do we think this family reunion would be?” I asked.

“Good question,” said Bob.

We sat around and talked in circles trying to figure out where Oscar would be and didn’t come to any conclusions. Eventually the conversation switched over to Cookie Monster and how we would try helping get his memory back.

“Susan’s trying to get in touch with some of his actual family, his mother, his cousin, anyone who would be willing to come and help jog his memory,” said Gordon.

“That’s great,” I said.

“You guys will keep a close eye on him too right? We don’t need to be looking for two individuals and the way he was talking today I’d fear he’d run away too,” said Bob.

“Of course we will, Susan and I will make sure he’s not alone. The doctor doesn’t want him alone anyway due to his head injury,” said Gordon.

“Hey, what about Grungetta?” I asked suddenly.

“What about her?” said Alan.

“Maybe she’d know where Oscar’s reunion was or where he would go. Being a grouch herself and more or less his girlfriend she might have some insights,” I said.

“Great idea Kermit!” said Maria.

We agreed that we would find Grungetta in the morning and plan our search based on what she could tell us.

It was getting late so we then dispersed so Alan could close up the store. I started walking slowly to my apartment. This was actually the first night I was staying there since arriving on Sesame Street. I knew I needed to call the boarding house and check on Robin and I knew Piggy must be missing me. Fortunately I knew that my theatre family understood that right now I needed to be with this family. I just hoped things would get better soon.

Hey Beth... Thanks for the update... Loved the part where Kermit took charge and Grover ad-libbed for Janice. Also like what you're doing with the story overall... Nice touches of Sesame lore here and there.
And might that apartment from Street Smarts come into view next chapter?

Beth, what a touching story so far. It has some very dramatic and scary moments, but somehow you always manage to return it to the classic Sesame Street style. It is just wonderful and I get more and more excited as I read it. I also liked the bit with Cookie getting confused over Elmo's talking in 3rd person. Hilarious! You do so well when writing for these characters. Especially Big Bird. Bravo!

Thanks Bryan! I think it's something about having grown up with these guys, it makes it really easy to write for them. I'm glad you like it though, I know what a SS fanatic you are so it means alot that you like this story!

Ok, it's not an update. Once again this thing called "life" has kidnapped me and is pretty much holding me hostage. There's this other thing called "writers block" that keeps getting in my way whenever "life" loosens it's grip on me. Therefore, I can say I have not forgotten this story. I will not forget this story. But I can't make any promises as to when I'll be posting more of this story. It will not get shelved if I can help it, but like I said, right now I'm just not able to really give it my full attention.

Thanks for understanding and I'll see you all around the forum and hopefully will have some more of this story at some point in the somewhat near future.

Aw Beth... You know you can always drop me a line to talk about getting rid of that nasty writer's block.
UD: Some green tea often helps me think, especially when enjoying a fine piece of fanfiction like this.
Count: And you can count on us to help out a fiend in need of pointers or suggestions as to where a story can take you.
*Sing: Cause a story can take you from here to there...
A story can take you to anywhere...

Even lead you to Cookie!
So hope you have a good day sorting your ideas out Beth. Heck, I have a hard time sorting my own sometimes.
Huggles.

Wow...I'm lovin' this story, Beth! I can't wait for more. I was predicting Oscar would have gone to Grouchland, but maybe not. That's up to your own creative genius. Like Ed said, if you need any help with ideas, let me know. I'd be happy to help get the cookie juices flowing!